Lucknow: The issue of appointment of District Magistrate (DM) in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh is turning murkier as over two months have passed but the Akhilesh Yadav government has yet not decided over the issue. The scenario has raised eyebrows of many as they want to know the reason behind the delay in the appointment.

Soon after coming to power in March, the Samajwadi Party removed the Sonbhadra DM who was appointed by previous Mayawati government. The Akhilesh Yadav government had not appointed new DM for more than two months only to do so on May 22.

Surprisingly, he too was removed in the month of September and Chief Development Officer (CDO) has been given the charge of DM Sonbhadra. According to Duddhi MLA Ruby Prasad, mining mafias of the district has very good contacts in Lucknow and they don’t want an honest DM to be appointed. Ruby claimed that Suhas LY was appointed as DM on people’s request but was soon removed, reportedly under pressure from mining mafia.

Earlier, Pandhari Yadav and VV Pant served as DM of the district during the BSP regime. SP government came into power on 15 March and within fortnight Pant was removed. Later, Suhas was appointed as DM on May 22 and was removed on September 22. Since then the post is lying vacant.

When asked about it, State Appointment Department tried to downplay the matter saying that there is nothing unusual as the government has not found a suitable DM for the District.